# Anybody Know How Much a Supertanker Costs to Build?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-how-much-a-supertanker-costs-to-build/207672>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 15, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-how-much-a-supertanker-costs-to-build/207672 "2003-10-15T23:52:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-how-much-a-supertanker-costs-to-build/207672/1 "2003-10-15T23:52:26Z")

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I’m doing some research to back up a pet theory of mine, and I need to know what it costs to build a supertanker. The things can’t be cheap, of course, but they can’t be as expensive as a couple of billion dollars either. Anyone know? (And yes, I know, if I have to ask I can’t afford one. :rolleyes: You’re funny, now lets move on.)

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**Author:** ![aeropl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@aeropl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aeropl)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-how-much-a-supertanker-costs-to-build/207672/2 "2003-10-16T00:20:55Z")

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It’s in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The Exxon Valdez cost $130 million to build in 1986, for example [(Cite)](http://www.valdezlink.com/hung.htm). The cost has probably gone up since then, because of bigger ships and more strict construction standards.

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-how-much-a-supertanker-costs-to-build/207672/3 "2003-10-16T00:26:23Z")

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I don’t know about a new one. Apparently the world fleet is aging (average age is around 20 years). In about 1990, Jorgen Jahre bought the _Jahre Viking_, the world’s largest, for $39MM.

Earlier this week I noticed a beat up '72 model going for $225,000.

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**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-how-much-a-supertanker-costs-to-build/207672/4 "2003-10-16T00:47:14Z")

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[Here](http://www.osy.co.jp/shipyard/osynow/now001.htm) is a site which mentions that the cost of the Oshima Bridge in Japan - about 29 billion yen - is about the equivalent of 4 VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers). This would be in the rough neighborhood of US$231 million, or about $58 million each. [Here](http://www.cdg.co.uk/deals/shipping.pdf) is a .pdf pamphlet or something which mentions a contract of $330 million to build 4 VLCCs (~82.5 million ea.). And, [here](http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/feb/19sci.htm) is an article which mentions two South Korean VLCCs which were to be acquired (which sounds like they would be built) for about $65.2 million each. And, based on [this html version of a .pdf article](http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:Cu3_0R3sFuMJ:www.koshipa.or.kr/html/rebutal.PDF), the current going rate for a Korean VLCC is over $76 million (if I read that correctly).

So, it would seem the average cost is somewhere between $58 million and about $85 million, depending on who’s doing the building, and just how big the tanker is.